Tips, advice, and blogs by our Typepad community.

Posts from August 2015

As a Typepad subscriber, if you've ever had a question about blogging, chances are you've either perused our handy Knowledge Base, browsed the archives here at Everything Typepad, or opened a Help Ticket in your Dashboard. Our Community and Support team receives many of these every day, and in this special series, we'll be answering some of our best, most Frequently Asked Questions.

What is Social Media?

Social Media is a social networking website or a collective of online channels that allow you to communicate to a large audience online at once.

Why should I promote on Social Media?

Social Media is a pretty big deal and used by just about everyone, from the biggest Fortune 500 company to your local foodie blogger. Social Media has become the main way to drive traffic to your web page and communicate with your followers. If you care about building your blog audience, Social Media is key in keeping your community engaged and informed outside of your blog and bring your followers back to your blog.

If you use your blog to promote your business or sell a product, more platforms are now beta-testing "Buy" features so people can buy from you directly from a tweet or pin. With options like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn and more, we know this can all be overwhelming and you may not have time to sign in to every account and share your latest blog post. We have some time saving tips later in this post.

What is integrated with Typepad? Can I share updates on Facebook/Twitter?

At Account > Other Accounts, you can connect your Typepad account with your Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and more. Any accounts you add to your Typepad account will appear in your sidebar if you select the "Other Accounts" module at Design > Content. This module will share icons linking to your social accounts in your sidebar.

You can also automatically share blog updates in your Twitter and Facebook accounts. Connect your Facebook profile, page, and Twitter to a specific blog at Settings > Sharing. You have the option to set up automatic updates by default on your Sharing page or select which post to share on the Compose page:

If you share your post through the Compose page, you can enter your status update text and hashtags before you publish.

What are Hashtags and how to do I use them?

Hashtags are a word or phrase you use to describe your status update subject preceded with a pound sign (#). Hashtags work differently on different social sites. On Pinterest and Instagram, they are more descriptive (i.e.: #ChristmasDecor, #FallFashion) where on Twitter and Facebook they are more topical (i.e.: #TheOscars, #SuperBowlXLIX).

What about other popular sites like Pinterest, LinkedIn and Instagram?

If you have more accounts you want to share your blog updates on, IFTTT is a great tool to use where you can set up a recipe connecting your blog's RSS feed to more accounts like Pinterest. We have tutorials on how to cross-post your blog with Instagram and sharing your posts to your LinkedIn profile. Once your recipes are set up, you can publish a blog post and it can go out to several of your accounts at once without you having to sign in to any of them.

How can readers share my posts to their Social Media feeds?

Your Typepad blog has the option to display Social Media sharing buttons at the footer of each of your posts:

You can add share buttons for Twitter, Google +, Pinterest, and Facebook. The buttons can be added by going to Design > Content > Post Footer, and check off the box for the buttons you want to add. Once this is set up, when a reader clicks one of these buttons to share your post, a pop-up window will appear from that site prompting you to enter your update. The post title and permalink will already be included but you can add additional text and hashtags to your status update.

When is a good time to share on Social Media?

As soon as you post an update of course! But don't just share your blog update once on the day it's published. Programs like Hootsuite,Buffer, and MeetEdgar let you schedule status updates to multiple accounts so you can manage your accounts in one place. If you shared a blog update this morning, you can schedule a reminder tweet in the afternoon and later in the evening. When you use a third-party to schedule your status updates, you can schedule several updates at once saving you time in the long run.

It also does not hurt to get some fresh eyes on older blog posts. Bloggers like to share older posts on Facebook and Twitter, especially if the information is still relevant, don't let it just disappear in to the blogesphere and wait for it to appear in a search engine.

Where do you like to share your blog updates? Let us know in the comments!

NAME: Emma DarwinBLOG:This Itch of WritingTYPEPAD MEMBER SINCE: 2007WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT: Emma Darwin is a novelist (The Mathematics of Love, A Secret Alchemy, New Nameless) and short story writer. Her blog is all about fiction & creative non-fiction: writing it, reading it, teaching it and sometimes hating it.

Did you know Typepad is on Pinterest? It's true! We love pinning and repinning great content from Typepad blogs in every genre, and we're always looking for great, inspirational content. Are you on Pinterest? Drop your link in the comments, and don't forget to follow Typepad right here! If you're not on Pinterest yet, check it out - it's a great way to promote your blog and connect with others!

We recently shared that Google closed its authorship services which previously allowed you to claim your content in their searches. As an alternative, Facebook has launched its own authorship service. It's super easy to set up, and works the same way.

If anyone shares your blog post on Facebook, not only will it cite the source but it will also list you as the author with a link back to your profile. From Facebook's blog:

The next time you publish a post, check off your Facebook profile (or Page) under "Share This Post" on the Compose page in order to see your byline created. So you go from Facebook post looking like this....

to this

which now includes a link to your Facebook profile as a credit and to help build your Facebook following.

It's a pretty straight forward process but if you have any questions on getting this set up, feel free to open a Help ticket and the Typepad team will be happy to assist you.

NAME: Tamara KrinskyBLOG:Science LushTYPEPAD MEMBER SINCE: 2006WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT: As an actress, on-camera host, writer, and editor, Tamara Krinsky has her hands full. She's also one quarter of the SCIRENS, a collective of actresses dedicated to advocating for scientific literacy in the general public and creating science-infused entertainment content. She combines her passions for science and the arts on her blog, bringing her readers knowledge, relevant anecdotes, and behind the scenes geekery.

As a Typepad subscriber, if you've ever had a question about blogging, chances are you've either perused our handy Knowledge Base, browsed the archives here at Everything Typepad, or opened a Help Ticket in your Dashboard. Our Community and Support team receives many of these every day, and in this special series, we'll be answering some of our best, most Frequently Asked Questions.

What kind of things might I need to troubleshoot on Typepad?

Typepad runs smoothly most of the time, but every now and then, you might run into an issue. This could be something like you're not able to login to your account or maybe your blog's design has gone missing.

What should I do if I have a problem?

First off - don't panic! While there may be a problem right now, most issues can be resolved quickly and easily; plus the Typepad Support Team is here to help! You can send us a Tweet at @typepad or submit a help ticket and we'll get you straightened out.

If you want to try and fix the problem on your own, there are a few things you can do.

What if I can't login?

If you can't login, the most important thing to remember is that usernames (available on Typepad accounts created earlier than 2008), e-mail addresses, and passwords are case-sensitive. You can also reset your password.

If your blog's design is missing and displaying with a white background, it's most likely a domain mapping issue. You'll want to deactivate domain mapping temporarily at Account > Domain Mapping and check your settings at your domain registrar. The Typepad Support Team can also do this for you if you open a help ticket.

What if my blog has a display issue?

You may notice an issue on your blog where all of your text appears bold or the sidebar is displaying in the wrong area. This is usually caused by open or incorrect tags or copying and pasting from another application, like Microsoft Word.

What if I can't resolve the issue on my own?

Each member of the Typepad Support Team has had years of service working on Typepad and is well equipped to get you sorted out. Simply reach out to us using one of the aforementioned methods and we'll get your blog on the right path!

BLOG:Sticky RiceTYPEPAD MEMBER SINCE: 2005WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT: Eating, drinking, and people watching are some of the greatest things about Hanoi. The bloggers at Sticky Rice are eating their way through Vietnam's northern capital, looking for the best street food. Locations open and close at the drop of a hat, completely change style over a weekend or are carried around constantly moving, making it a worthy (and tasty) challenge!

Did you know Typepad is on Pinterest? It's true! We love pinning and repinning great content from Typepad blogs in every genre, and we're always looking for great, inspirational content. Are you on Pinterest? Drop your link in the comments, and don't forget to follow Typepad right here! If you're not on Pinterest yet, check it out - it's a great way to promote your blog and connect with others!

What does the removal of Google Authorship mean to you and Typepad?

In short, nothing.

No changes need to be made to your blog or Typepad settings. If you previously set up Google Authorship, the rel=author markup will remain within your blog's templates, but Google will no longer use this data. The inclusion of the author designation makes no difference to traffic or SEO even if it's no longer being utilized.

In your Typepad account, you'll notice the Google Settings tab in the Account settings will disappear shortly. (If you do try to set up authorship currently, you'll be unable to do so as Google will not respond.)

What about Google+?

If you have a Google+ account, you can still manage the connection between Typepad and your Google+ account at Account > Other Accounts. The changes at Google related to authorship do not impact your Google+ account.

In summary, Google retired the authorship feature, but the changes at Google do not impact your Typepad blog. If you have any questions, please reach out to us in the comments below, by email, or open a help ticket in your Typepad account.

BLOG:Harvard University PressTYPEPAD MEMBER SINCE: 2006WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT: Founded in 1913, Harvard University Press is the publisher of such classic works as John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice, E. O. Wilson’s On Human Nature, and Helen Vendler’s Dickinson, and continues to be a leading publisher of convergent works in the sciences, humanities, and social sciences. Their blog covers all things books, ideas, and news from Harvard University Press.

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